Assistance Control Method for One-Leg Pedaling Motion of a Cycling Wheelchair

Since the cycling wheelchair was introduced in the 2000s, we have focused on alleviating the over-use of healthy limbs that presents a problem to users. To this end, we have been developing assistance control for everyday users of cycling wheelchairs. In our previous research, we found that user load varies in different environments. Traveling resistance compensation control proved successful in counteracting in a range of environments. In the user-load investigation on cycling wheelchairs, the crank torque generated by pedaling was observed to be problematic for hemiplegic patients, who must pedal mainly with their healthy side. Futhermore, for patients able to bend one leg only, because the opposite limb is stiffened at the knee joint or physically absent, the cycling wheelchair is difficult to maneuver. This paper focuses on the crank torque during one-leg-pedaling and proposes a new assistance control.